SIDELINES
❚ The Gatineau Olympiques will return from their Christmas break Friday night at the Robert Guertin Arena minus a couple of veterans, one of whom had left the team in September and the other who will face his old squad in his first game with the new one. The Olympiques first traded Mathieu Boily to the Sherbrooke Phoenix in return for an eighth-round draft pick in 2015. Boily will be in the Phoenix lineup Friday to face his former teammates. The Olympiques also sent forward Robert Pelletier to the AcadieBathurst Titan for a thirdround pick in 2014. Pelletier left the Olympiques early in the season.
❚ Dallas Cowboys nose tackle Josh Brent was driving with a suspended licence and had a bloodalcohol content more than twice the legal limit at the time of the car crash that killed teammate and friend Jerry Brown, according to documents released by police Thursday. The 24-year-old Brent was tested after the crash in the early hours of Dec. 8 at 0.189 per cent, well above the Texas limit of 0.08. The crash report also says Brent was driving with an expired and suspended driver’s licence obtained in Illinois, where he pleaded guilty three years ago to driving under the influence, a misdemeanour. Brown was pronounced dead at a Dallas hospital. Brent was arrested and indicted Wednesday on one count of intoxication manslaughter. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted, though he could also receive probation. Brent is free on $100,000 bond.
❚ Hall of Fame baseball catcher Carlton Fisk pleaded guilty Thursday to a misdemeanour drunkendriving charge, two months after police found him asleep in his pickup truck in a suburban Chicago cornfield. Fisk, 64, was sentenced to one year of court supervision and must pay $1,250 in court costs. He also must undergo a drug and alcohol evaluation and counselling. New Lenox police found Fisk unconscious in the truck on Oct. 22 and said there was an open bottle of vodka on the floor.
❚ The New York Jets’ wacky quarterback situation has taken yet another twist. Greg McElroy has a concussion — which he didn’t reveal until Thursday — and will be replaced by Mark Sanchez as the New York Jets’ starting quarterback in the season finale at Buffalo on Sunday. Coach Rex Ryan walked into his news conference before practice, took the podium and opened with: “You’re not going to believe this.” Ryan was not certain exactly when McElroy suffered the concussion. Ryan added third-stringer, Tim Tebow, will “definitely be out.”
❚ John Maine is hoping to return to the majors with the Marlins. The pitcher has signed a minor-league contract with Miami and will compete for the fifth spot in its rotation. The 31-year-old right-hander had a record of 41-36 with an ERA of 4.35 from 2004 to 2010 with the Orioles and Mets. His best season was in 2007, when he went 15-10 with the Mets.
❚ Adrien Theaux, of France, led the opening training session for the leg-jarring World Cup downhill on the Stelvio course in Bormio, Italy, on Thursday. Theaux clocked two minutes, 0.72 seconds. Christof Innerhofer, the 2008 winner, was second, 0.23 seconds behind, and Italian teammate Dominik Paris was third, 0.98 back. Overall World Cup leader Aksel Lund Svindal, of Norway, was sixth — matching his best career result in this race. Olympic gold medallist and defending champion Didier Defago was 11th.
❚ Former Manchester United defender Henning Berg was fired by Blackburn on Thursday after just 57 days in charge, becoming the third manager to be dismissed by the English club’s controversial Indian owners in just two years. Berg, a former Blackburn player and Norway international, won just one of his 10 games as manager of the second-tier club, which has slipped to 17th place in the 24-team league.